In Between Dreams

This post has been edited 16 time(s), it was last edited by Jim4rdo: 30.07.2011 22:31.

Well, hello

I've finally decided to start a blog, the reasons why now I'll say a little bit later. My blog will be a mix of my life, and poker (obviously, I suppose.)

So first off, a little bit about me: (if you only want to read bout poker, skip down!
)

My names Jim, and I'm 18 from the UK. I'm on a gap year at the moment, just because I couldn't really decide what I wanted to do @ uni, so took some time out. Currently I work as a carer in a residential home for the elderly. It's a pretty tough job sometimes, and sad, but overall it's worth it, and it's a really rewarding thing for me.

I've applied to uni to study paramedic science, which is basically a university course to get a qualification that allows me to register and work as a paramedic. Throughout my life there's been some really tough times, and there's been family and friends to help along the way, and pretty much I want to be able to give back, and help people. So, I've decided this is what I want to do. So, that said, I've got 2 interviews for uni, one at liverpool, one at bristol uwe. I'll update in my blog on how they go...but for now, let's hope it goes well! *scroll down for update*

Apart from that, not much else to say about me, without waffling a huge amount. I love basketball, played it for my school and city, like sports in general, including cross country (in january i did the tough guy challenge... coldest thing of my life! But so fun), and gym probably 3 or 4 days a week. Like my music too, been to reading festival 2 times, this year hopefully for the 3rd time

Also love computer games, mostly css which i played competitively, but then some mmorpgs tooo. (KOTOR = best ever)

So, onto poker:

I've dabbled in it over the years I suppose, never been amazing at it. Played a home tourny once after playing/watching a bit of online poker with my brother, won it and thought I was amazing.

In general online play, I'm still a bit of a fish
Well, probably quite a big fish. But try not to search me too much and steal my monies, I won't appreciate that ;x

I was playing FR nl2, but I went massively up and down after going through a phase of learning lots, going up, learning more and thinking I was amazing so going all the way down, then up again a little. I got a bit bored of FR, so decided to switch to SH. So far I love it, I play 2-4 tables, and really concentrate on improving my game, trying to read and guess peoples ranges and hands, rather than playing for volume and more profit.

I know I have a lot of leaks, but i'm slowly trying to plug that boat, with hand evaluations, coaching sessions and reading articles. It's going well, but I'm sure atm I'm being lucky, so I'll be hit soon.

My main goals:

- Enjoy poker. I'm only gonna play it as long as I enjoy it, and the reason I didn't start a blog a while ago is because I wanted to make sure I stuck at poker, rather than starting a blog and quitting a week later.
- Move up the limits (rather obvious one, eh?)
- Don't blame downswing on variance, rather just study, analyse, and try and improve that way.

Here's a graph of my stats so far. Tiny sample size really I know, but I can't play too much atm unfortunately!

So, hope you enjoyed my first post. If you did, feel free to leave a comment, I'd appreciate it

Oh, and the blog name is after Jack Johnson's album, but I felt it was quite an apt name

Nice start
2 years at Reading in a row you say? That first year was the year Rage Against the Machine played right, or was it Radiohead that year? I've been to Leeds Fest for the past 4 years in a row, and every year it's been the best weekend of the year

This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by Jim4rdo: 15.03.2011 00:31.

Originally posted by Wriggers
Nice start
2 years at Reading in a row you say? That first year was the year Rage Against the Machine played right, or was it Radiohead that year? I've been to Leeds Fest for the past 4 years in a row, and every year it's been the best weekend of the year

Cheers

Unfortunately that wasn't the RATM year! Would loved to have seen them..

It was radiohead, but I didn't go to see them. I think I either went to see Rise against or Lost Prophets, thinking LP since if I remember rightly RA were a sunday night, and radiohead were saturday! Pretty much passed out in the crowd of RA haha, because of just being so tired. I was woken up by a steward sitting against a pillar asking if i was ok and if i wanted some water. Good times!

I love the festival though, and you're right, definitely one of the best if not the best weekend of the year

Well firstly this morning, my head felt like it needed to explode. Gotta love those hangovers eh? Annoying thing is I didn't even drink that much, so no idea really why it was there. But after chucking a few times it seemed to go away.

So then I got onto a session, only of about 40 minutes/200 hands. Not a large volume just because at the moment I only 3 table!

I'm up 19$ over 4000 hands, which unfortunately I know is such a small sample! And I've had quite a lot of sets beating overpairs recently, so I'm sure soon my luck will turn for a bit, but I just see if I keep playing good poker, and learning from mistakes, it won't be TOO bad.

Gonna post up some hands when I'm home from work, since i'm gonna be staying up late to change my sleeping pattern to do a night shift at work saturday.

Study Study Study Study, but don't overestimate studies on your level in matter of hand reading and playing according to your opponent, because they will often do something that 100% does not fit their stats

This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by Jim4rdo: 22.03.2011 16:16.

Thanks boris
I hope to crush them too!

Time for another update.

Poker-wise, there isn't a huge amount to update on. I feel my general play is getting much better, but I still have some bad leaks.

For example, today in my session, my biggest loss at once was only .50c, so 25bb's. Now considering over the whole session I lost 2.50, that means I made a lot of stupid calls, where I knew I was beat but just couldn't lay it down. For example, trip kings vs 4 card flush.

So that being said it's on the up, but I'm losing money atm because of stupid play and leaks.

RL wise, I'm a bit nervous! I've got my university interview tomorrow... It's for Paramedic Practice - basically a uni course to become a paramedic. Normally it's about 500 applicants for around 20-40 places, so, not the greatest odds ^^ But I'm through to the interview stage, so I've just gotta hope I nail it.

Not too sure what I'll do if I don't get in, but I suppose it's best not to think about that! But it's something I really want to do, and I can only do my best, so yeah.

I think there is tons of stuff to do on your poker.
One bigest problem you have imo is autoclicking buttons.
You just press buttons without much thinking of your opponents holdings.
THats very very common in level 1 thinkers.
Probly thats reason why you play differend when sweating.
I think finding few more guys to sweat will help to reduce that.
Also studying.
Study tohse videos I sent ya, especially Nikachus ones.
I watched those 3 times and probly will do it again tonight.

About the interview, I would suggest to go away from computer soon, take a walk or something.Listen some cool relaxing music, and go to sleep early.
I personally love meditation for those matters, couse it calms me and quiet my overheated mind.
So when I am about to face tricky situations in following day I usually get up early, meditate for 30-45 mins.
Take a shower, eat breakfast and go there, and do my best.

As you said, all you can do is to do your best.
And if you do it than nothing else matters.

One nice quote I really like :

"to fly as fast as thought, anywhere there is, beginning by knowing you already arived "

It seems that the course I want is even more competitive than I thought!

At liverpool john moores which is one of the unis im thinking of, over 1000 people applied, 200 people got interviewed, and they're giving 30. Sooo unfortunately I don't have a huge chance of getting in! But there's always hope :p

The interview itself went pretty well I think. In all honesty probably about as good as possible, which is nice. So it just depends how good others were I suppose

Poker isn't going so great. I really am such a massive fish, heh. Spewing money left right and centre imo. My general play is good, and i'm starting to be able to put people on ranges OK. But i'm too resilient to letting go of hands, or folding to someone i've labelled as a fish and who I've seen do a stupid play.

But I suppose that's part of learning... After 4k hands I was 19$ up, now after 9000 hands I'm only 4$ up. So that says a lot really. But still, I just have to think more clearly and then I know I'll be doing so much better.

So after a pretty annoying session - 1 bi up, last 20 hands ---> 1 bi down - it's time to head to the gym.

This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by Jim4rdo: 08.04.2011 12:28.

That time again

Well irl not much going on - waiting to hear back from uni, went to blackpool for a work trip, and that's it really. So not much else to say there. Life is a tad boring, so might book some tickets to australia and go visit my sister.

But work was kinda bit bad today, saw the husband of the woman I was caring for who passed away, so it was a bit melancholy. So after work I went to tesco and bought a litre of mars milk shake, 4 chicken pieces. Sounds about right, right?

So onto poker. March was a funny month for me. My volume was so small, but it felt to me like the initial upswing was luck, and the downswing was learning too much, trying to implement it, and becoming a losing player.

Here's the graph...

But my game has started to pick up recently. I'm not playing like such a fish, but what I've learnt is actually coming into play more, and i'm winning more pots due to this.

Just going to post up one or two hands which made me cringe, smile, and rage all at once.

This post has been edited 2 time(s), it was last edited by Jim4rdo: 02.08.2013 07:37.

Well, finally another update.

Life's been kinda busy and I haven't had the time to update.

First off - Real life.

I DID IT! Got an unconditional offer
So, starting in september, i'll be training to be a paramedic. Which is going to be awesome. I was really nervous about getting in since it was so competitive, but now I've finally got my place I can relax a bit, plan a holiday in the summer with friends, and get things sorted.

Everything else irl is pretty good too, playing in a local footie league again, working, gym, and going out. Most of my friends have gone back to uni now which is a shame, but hey. C'est la vie!

So, onto poker.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.

April wasn't the best of months for me. I finished about 9$ down overall. But, I had a really bad start and it was just hard to recover. So this month is gonna be a tester

So far already I lost 6bi dropping to -12$, but now it's back to -8$ down.

I realised that, although I wish it was, this month I lost those buy ins because I was a big fish. Not much more to it than that. I might have had a cooler or two or three, but in general my play was bad, my shoves were bad.

Playing today, I played about the same vpip/pfr, but I didn't hold onto those marginal hands, tried to play IP a lot more. I've ended up writing myself an A4 piece of paper by my monitor with things I should and shouldn't do. So far it's helping me keep my focus much more.

So my aims for may:

Get in 15k hands, as a pose to last months 11k.
Finish at least 10$ (small, but it's a start, eh?!)
Carry on evaluating hands, and also reading more of the material.
Add another 1 or 2 tables to my play, but only when I feel comfortable, alert and ready.

Pretty sure I can do all of these things if I really try, and put in the time. I'm confident I can play poker well, I just need to eliminate those basic errors. I think my opening ranges from most places are pretty good, but I need to work on playing hands like QKo/s from CO when there's already a raiser infront, those kind of situations. Although it may be easy for some, I find those are the type of hands which lose me the most money, since I can never really decide what to do.

This post has been edited 2 time(s), it was last edited by Jim4rdo: 13.05.2011 14:20.

Well just a small update.

My game's improving a lot I think, and I'm confident this month is going to be a positive one! My hand reading is improving, and i'm not doing the horrible spewy play of taking TPTK to showdown when it's so obviously not a good idea a lot of the time.

Managing to 6 table fairly confidently now as well, which is good

IRL, things are going fine still. Starting to get really excited but also nervous for semptember. It's daunting, but i'm really looking forward to it! Gonna be cooooool

Kinda weird really. Lately just haven't been doing well on NL2... Which is pretty bad really, considering just how fishy it can really be. I think I was just overplaying a lot, and making silly moves. Wasn't really that I was getting sucked out on, I was just bad ^^

So i'm playing some sng's at them moment, with 1 table of rush to ease the boredom of first stages.

Only 9 man ones, but I'm ITM 33% of the time. And I think this is pretty good...except for the fact they're 1$ ones, and the rake is absolutely killing me. I'm only finishing 2nd and 3rd too, so obviously I need to improve a bit on my HU game, or taking an extra coin flip or two to chip up to take that position I need.

Anyway, for now I'm just getting some experience on sngs on the 1$, and with ICM trainer, and reading articles. Soon i'll probably try a few 2 or 3$ ones, see how that fares.

My rush graph for this month, which is really only the past few days:

It looks pretty nice... Just how long that will last for, I don't know ^^

I feel my hand ranges are getting much better, and I'm generally taking more notes and noticing betting patterns, when I'm being valued and bluffed. That said, I'm still not bluffing much or calling if i think think maybe it's a bluff. Rather play tight abc, it's working for now.

Gonna go see a mate this afternoon and chill out. Wanted to see priest at the cinema but it's not showing anymore >_>

He little mate.
Sometimes its not about your play,but variance and all shits that add up to your game, which slows your improvement.
Mindset, cards, variance etc.
Sngs are fun, but as u said yourself rake on those small limits is just killer.
What I would do if I were you is to play cash games more and when my BR is big enough I would start to play those of 3$.
There isnt much difference in skill level but rake is lower in ratio with BI.
Keep up with study and ma sure u will crush whichever style of poker u play.
And btw ,dont forget aboout variance
.

Originally posted by Jim4rdoI DID IT! Got an unconditional offer from bristol uwe
So, starting in september, i'll be training to be a paramedic. Which is going to be awesome. I was really nervous about getting in since it was so competitive, but now I've finally got my place I can relax a bit, plan a holiday in the summer with friends, and get things sorted.

This post has been edited 2 time(s), it was last edited by Jim4rdo: 21.05.2011 17:53.

Definitely true sin.

I'm playing a bit more rush at the moment, to get my BR up and to work on some stuff. It's fun as well and keeps me entertained! And yeah, micro stakes certainly eat away at your rake!

And hi ingrid! Thanks
I'll forgive you for missing my blog up till now don't worry!

But pfffffft what a session!

First big section of it i was playing kinda fishy I think. Just playing a hand or two I really shouldn't have, or trying a bluff check raise in really the wrong spot. However the board wasn't really helping me that much in fairness, but hey. That's poker

So after going almost 3bi's down i took a quick breather and decided to stop being such a donk!

Managed to finish the session only about 0.75bi down which is alright I suppose. Gotta get my head in the game.

Would really love to start getting some RB again soon...

I only cleared the $25 take 2 bonus and $5 from the added bonus, and since then i've made like 28$ in rake, but still nothing :\

Gonna head off to the gym now and then play some more rush later

Scrap that - forgot the gym closes at 8 on a saturday, and so I won't finish my session in time.

An audi r8 (the car I want most) just pulled up next to me at the traffic lights. So envious. Suppose I'll have to get better at poker at start making thousands from it and then buy one. Or just ship a big tourny (don't see that happening any time soon though).

Gonna go make some pasta carbonara, then chill out and play some rush before footie

This post has been edited 2 time(s), it was last edited by Jim4rdo: 23.05.2011 12:39.

Poker today isn't going so great!

Seems lady luck isn't really happy with me today. Only 5 or 10 minutes into my session i flopped a straight and some guy flopped a set, all in on flop and he hit a FH on the river. Just knew that one was coming!
And then in a 3$ doublestack turbo tourny got all in preflop TT vs 66 and he hit a set to knock me out. Ah well. Whine over ^^

Having a poker night tonight with some friends, hopefully my luck will be better then, and I take their monies

I'll play some more later, gonna go eat some food and chill out just to get rid of my "anger"
(not really tilted bad just a shite start to the day so want to forget it)

This post has been edited 2 time(s), it was last edited by Jim4rdo: 24.05.2011 13:51.

Oh dear.

That's all there is to say about last night. Haha. It was a lot of fun in fairness, 6 handed from the start, buy in @ £5. We did it so winner takes £25, 2nd place just gets £5 and his buy in back.

I thought it would be fishy, but not THAT fishy.
Everyone limped in, every time. Pretty much no one folded hands. I'm not sure a lot of them knew what were bad or not. And as the drink flowed, it just got worse! I remember raising pretty big over 2 limpers with Ax, and got a call. I bet again on the flop having missed it, and got called. Think we checked it to the river to showdown. My friend showed 74 and won the pot, and I only had Ace high. Eughhhhhhh.

Managed to get to the last 3, but only had 500 value in chips and other 2 had 4000. Picked up pocket kings at a good time and managed to get them both to give me 500, so went up 1500, then doubled up again through trips. So then it was HU between me and friend, at about 3 in the morning. Ended up playing till about 4.30am, both getting kinda drunk.

I was winning by quite a lot, slowly blinding him out, then it all went wrong. I hit a straight on the turn and put a lot of money into the pot, and he hit a FH on the river.

I came 2nd in the end, so I didn't lose any money, and it was just a good night in general. Coulda used a bit of help from lady luck with my cards, but tis cool.

Just played a session and a friend watched on mikogo, ended up 2.5bi up, which is actually my biggest so far on rush. Normally it's about 1.5 or something. Posted some hands for evaluation, and will review them myself too.

Hand of the session which really made my day? Gotta love the 2 7 ;p

Oh by the way, reason about the horrible bet sizing was because villian was 42/0/1 or something on rush, and on that flop I didn't really think I would be getting any money out of him. Hence the small bet on the turn as well, I just wanted something out of it. hahah.